Slack puller and jack



I. B. HART SLACK FULLER AND JACK Oct. 2,1928.

Filed Oct. 18, 1924 Patented fl, 1928.

1 ease IRAB. HART, or sit. tours, ivrrsscuni, ASSIG-ITQR no. w. It. MATTHEWS 'oorvrons'rron,

OF sr. LOUIS, missounr, A 00..

H 033 MISSOURI.

SLACK rotten Ann JACK.

Application filed. October 18, 1924. Serial No. 744 330.

This invention relates to slack-pullers and with regard to certain morespecific features, 7 to slack pullers or stretchers for tightening ropes, cables and like or'less heavy flexible connectors. Y

Among the'several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a device of the kind described which may be used. not only as a tension member. but compression member-also. one adapted to do work which is to be done within narrow limits of space and a device which will withstand rough usage, yetbe simple and inexpensive to 1 manufacture. 'Other objects willbe in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. V

' The invention accordingly comprises the features ot-construction, combinations of elements and arrangements or parts. which are'exemplified in the description hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the scope or the application of which will be indicated in the following claims. I In the accompanyingdrawinna in which are illustrated two of various possible embodiments of the invention, v. Fig. .1 is a front elevation of the slack puller;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section "taken from front to rear. on

Fig. 1; V

[Fig.f 8 is a section taken on Fig. 2; and

Fig. i is Fig. 2.

Similarreference characters responding parts throughout views of the drawings. 7

Referring now more particularly to Fi. 1 and 2 of the accompanying (lTRWlIlQ'Sth.

line 2-2 of a section taken on line l4 of indicate corthe several is illustrated at numeral 1 a polygon al 'tu.

composed preterablyf'ot drawn steel and preferably of square section} to which is pinned at its upper end a clevis can 3. This cap 3 comprises a souarebase in the resent embodiment. which fits the tube snu r. and is pinned thereto by the tour diae dial pins .5 (Fig. 3); These pins do not 9'. .cs to the inside of the tube 1 but. do use the full sectional area or". the corners thereof for holding purposes. Formed integrally with the square base portion of this upper can 3 are the tines .7 of a clevis fork through easily reached for replacement.

line 33 which extends a bolt 9 for the'purpose of holding fast to acable; a rope or the like. Thisbolt 9 key 11; i

The tube or extension l'extends ,down wardlya distance substantially equal to the maizimum' .slaclz: distance which ,the' device is desi ned to eliminate i. e., 40 inches. On its'lower end is pinned, in the above described manner, a gear housing orsupportinejmeans 13. I The housing or supporti provided" on; its lower. end

2'. ith a neck- 15' is held in position'by the cotter portion "13 .is I

in which. is rotatablyborne afianged nut 17. This nut is -riveted to a bevel gear 19 rotat able horizontally"within the housing. The

riveted connectionbetween gear 19 and nut 1'? is designed to shear at apredetermined overload or overstress in order to prevent HlJP-IY to more vital or expensive parts the device when 1t 18 put under extreme service conditions. By this means the tension in a stretched'wire may also be limited and kept at a proper value. lhe rivets are Threaded through the nut 17 is the/screw 21, provided its lower end with a grab hook 28 or any other suitable nieansfor hooking or clutching; a connector.

The screw 21 passes through the' nu't 17,

housing 13 andthrough the tube 1. At its extreme upper end it is pinned to a-polygonal or square block 25.. This block is free-to ride longitudinally of the tubelas it has a loose fit therein. means of the block 25 the screw vis'kept from turning but it free to move axially.

' Above the nut 17 is placed a'thrustcollar I 2'? loosely ti ting the outside of the screw 21 and rotatably mounted therewith. An

' unner flange 29 v on the collar- 27 abuts a l u flange Sl or reentorclng portion of the hous mg 18 for a purpose to be here nafter described. The i-eenforcing portion provides means-for pinning on the tube 1. it carries both tensile compressive stresses.

Meshing with. the bevel gear 19 isxthe bevel pinion 83, keyed to-a horizontal ournal 35.v This iournal passes through abearing 37 on the forward end of housing p Outside oiitlie'housing'on journal 35 is keyed a ratchet, collar 39 slotted at several points. Loosely fit ing over the ratchet collar 39 and loosely born on the journal 35 isa crank 41. This crank 41 is keptfrom sliding forwardly by the head 48 provided on the journal and cannot go rearwardly because of a shoulder on the bearing 37. The crank is provided w th a crank handle 45 and means in-th'e form of hole 47 for increasin the levera e on said crank. The

dotted lines show how an extension may be pinned into the hole 47 and used as a lever Returning tothe ratchet collar, it may be placed at right angles through the pawl to y by hand, twisted through 180 degrees, and

drop into one ofthe four slots of the ratchet collar whenever alignment occurs. It is self evident however, that if'the crank is turned counter-cloclmdse (Figs. 1 and 4), the pawl is forced out of'the ratchet grooves by the wedge action, thereby, causing no turning effect on the ournal' 35', while-if the crank is turned clockwise such wedge action does not occur (the pawl being pointed from one side. only) and the crank is then, to all intent and purposes, integral with the journal 35, driving the same andconsequently the gear train withinhousinglgp I The pawl 49 is provided with a direction indicating head 57 which indicates the direction in which the crank may be turned in order to have the pawl lock the handle and gear train together. This is of value in that the pawl may be pulled downwardly permitted to drop back into place under action of the spring whereupon theratchet action is reversed from that above described. Both the fact that a reversal of ratchet action is, obtained in. this device, and the I Y fact that the direction of action is'indicated willbe set intomotion, and as gear 19 romakes for; a very flexible control The ratchet permits use of the device where a 360 degree swing of the crank is not practicable.

- The advantageof being able to reverse the action will appear presently. Assume, first that the crank .is turned-clockwise and that the ratchet andpawl are so set as to lock the crank and journal together (Fig. Upon rotatingthe crank the gear train tates the screw 21 will be drawn into the tube 1 andthe' device is thus adapted for use as a tension element or slack puller. The longitudinal reaction comes between gear 19 and the upper part of neck 15.

Upon reversing the action of the ratchet, counter-clockwise rotation of the crank causes the gear train to move and the action is reversed. In this case the gear 19, by

'means of nut 17 forces the screw 21 ou wardly from the tube thus making the device useful as a ack or compression memression member ma 'be made as reat as desired by choosing proper gear ratios and pitch of thread.

e should be noted that when used as a compression member, the longitudinal reaction comes between the flange 29. of the collar 27 and flange 31 or reenforcing pertion of the housing '13, inasmuch as the gear 19 reacts on the collar 27 inforcing the screw outwardly. The tube 1 is adapted to withstand both tensile and compressive stresses but it has been found advantageous to relieve housings such as 18 from compressive stresses as has been done here. Its

polygonal shape provides strength and at.

the same'time provides a guide for permitting sliding action of the block 25 without rotation thereof.

Itwill be noted of'this device are almost entirely closed in and protected from dirt and grit;

From the above it will be; seen that the several objects of the invention areattained and other advantageous results achieved.

As many modifications of the embodiments above illustrated might be made, without departing from the spirit or scopeof the present invention, it is intended-that the above description andaceompanying drawings and claims shall be interpreted as illustrative andnot in a limiting sense.

I claim: v

1. In a slack puller, the combination of a screw, a housing adapted to completely enclose a reducing gear train, a nut 1n.

that the moving parts ing said screw, the screw having slidable movement through said housing, a 'polyg-' onal tube attached at one end to said housing and at the other to an enclosing fastener, the tube being adapted to receiveand completely enelose'the movable screw, and a polygonal block slidably cooperating with the inside of the tube fastened to the screw.

2. In a slackpuller, the combination of a screw, a housing adaptedto enclose a reducing gear train-and having a reenforcing portion adapted to transmit tensile and com pression stresses, a nut in said housing.

driven to rotate by said train located in housing, said nut reacting through the housing whenthe device is used in tension and means whereby it reacts only through said reenforcing portion when the'device is used in compression, the screw having slidable movement through the housing, a polygonal tube attached to said housing at said re-l enforcing portion and at the other end to. a fastener, the tube bemg adapted to recelve the slidable screw and a non-rotatable block slidably cooperating with the tube and fastened to the screw, said tube being adapted to transmit tensile and compressive stresses.

3. In a slack puller, the combination of a screw, means for supporting a reducing gear train having a reenforcing portion adapted to transmit tensile and compression stresses, a nut in said supporting means adapted to be driven to rotate from said train located in the supporting portion, said nut reacting through the complete supporting portion when the device is used in tension and means whereby it reacts only through said reenforcin r the other end to a fastener and anon-rotatable memberslidably engaging the extension means and fastened to the screw, said exten sion means being adapted totransmit.tensile and compressive stresses. g

In testimony whereof, I havev signed my October, 1924. 1

name to this specification this 16th of.

IRA B. HART. 

